Archive of Our Own

Atsuhiro Sako, the Gentleman Thief known to the world as Mr. Compress, had received the insider scoop of the century.

Endeavor, the Number Two Hero, a title bested only by ‘Number One Hero’ and ‘Gentleman Thief: Mr. Compress’, was paying a small fortune for the hospitalization treatment of an unknown woman. 

Was this woman his wife? His mother? A daughter? A secret daughter?

It didn’t matter to the Gentleman - and Curious - Thief: Mr. Compress.

It was a score, and another boast to add to his introduction, along with the Brain Behind the Big Ben Caper, the Phantom Cruise Thief, and Harima's great, great, grandson.

Sneaking into the hospital was a cakewalk for the thief. The security, while miles beyond the average hospital - and he would know, having to break into hospitals and out of them when a quirk or a bullet grazed him - even the Gentleman - and Lightfooted - Thief: Mr. Compress could trip up on occasion. 

Wait.

Where was he?

Right, the security.

Security was almost impressive, but Gentleman Thieves - especially one with a quirk as useful as [Compress] - were hardly inconvenienced by the additional manpower. All he had to do was take a doctor into an empty room, knock him out, take his doctor coat, compress him, and find his score. 

Rei Todoroki, the clipboard helpfully provided.

His confident smirk turned into a lazy smile as he walked into Rei’s hospital room, putting on the image of a new, young, and hip doctor.

“Excuse me, Miss… Todoroki,” Atsuhiro started, pretending to read from the clipboard, before looking up at the white-haired woman, who was looking out of the window from her bed. He closed the door behind him, mentally planning how quickly he could walk over and compress her. He gave it less than ten seconds. “I’m Doctor Lupin, and I’m-”

Before he could finish his introduction, the entire side of the room Atsuhiro was standing on was coated in thick ice.

Atsuhiro was stuck, as frozen to the room as the smile on his face.

Well, even the Gentleman - and Prepared - Thief: Mr. Compress couldn’t always anticipate his mark’s reactions.

Slowly, Rei turned to him, giving the younger man a long-worn, tired expression. 

For some reason, the Gentleman - and Playboy - Thief: Mr. Compress’ tongue was as frozen as his body and smile, and what must have been a lump of that ice made its way into his throat.

“It is tiring enough to be set upon by doctors several times a day,” she started, speaking slowly, and if anything sounding more tired than she looked. “I would prefer not to be made a ransom.”

Atsuhiro somehow managed to swallow the lump of ice and defrost his tongue.

“My dear,” he started slowly, and very, very, carefully. “I do not know what you are speaking of. I am Dr. Lupin, a substitute doctor while your regular doctor is out.”

Rei’s expression didn’t alter.

“I have five doctors, who each visit me every day. They schedule ‘substitute’ doctors months in advance.”

“...Hrm. Well. It appears I came unprepared. Perhaps another time?”

It was, perhaps, best not to go into detail as to how the Gentleman - and Discrete - Thief: Mr. Compress managed to escape the ice, the hospital, the hospital’s security, and the several paid bodyguards hired exclusively to mobilize when Rei’s room fell below a certain temperature. As far as anyone needed to know, Atsuhiro entered the hospital with only one shoe, a mild case of hypothermia, spray paint on his back in the shape of a smiling face, and a boxing glove.

But the Gentleman - and Mature - Thief: Mr. Compress wasn’t easily dissuaded! He would have Rei Todoroki, no matter the cost!

…Though don’t ask him why her soft features kept popping up in his dreams. 

After his initial failure, he decided to go about his heist the rather unfun, but wiser, way, and start with scoping the hospital and his mark. Being able to hide within his quirk-made compression marbles made staying out of sight a breeze, though he had at times felt the heat of Endeavor’s quirk at what he considered a far too close proximity. Strangely enough, the hero never entered Rei’s room, much less her floor. His anger at his wife’s attempted kidnapping seemed to wane within feet past the front desk, turning into open apprehension.

Oh, and Rei was his wife. It took an odd number of documents to find that detail.

Speaking of Rei, her routine was easy to map out. And she wasn’t lying, she actually had five doctors see her a day. But for the life of the Gentleman - and Clever - Thief: Mr. Compress, he couldn’t figure out why she needed those doctors. She seemed healthy, stable, and calm, if pale, quiet, and detached. All the medication she took only seemed to be for the little sunlight and exercise she got, which was half an hour of walking on hospital grounds, with several security personnel, or on a treadmill, with the same number of security personnel, four days a week.

Which revealed that despite her otherwise lack of exercise, Rei was fine. Fine as in an italicized for emphasis fine.

The Gentleman - and Privacy Respecting - Thief: Mr. Compress was starting to suspect that Rei didn’t actually need to stay at the hospital.

He needed to dig deeper.

…Well.

He had dirt on Endeavor now. 

A lot of dirt.

Enough dirt that would bury [Hellfire] so deep that the name would become fitting.

Or more fitting that it already was, given the man’s abuse, but that was neither here nor there.

Now, the Gentleman - and Sanctity of Marriage Respecting - Thief: Mr. Compress made up his mind. Rather than kidnap the wife of Endeavor bodily, he would steal something more specific.

He would steal her heart.

…For entirely professional reasons, of course.

The doctors were, as always, a repetitive annoyance for Rei. There were only so many times she could respond to questions of ‘How are you feeling?’, ‘How did you sleep?’, and ‘Have you had any self-destructive thoughts lately?’, and so she had stopped answering them altogether. The earliest doctors used to ask about her children, but those doctors were quickly replaced by her husband. She gave only the bare minimum focus when the other doctors checked her vitals and her reflexes. That didn’t stop them from asking or prodding. The days blurred together.

Save for the few times someone discovered she was Endeavor’s wife.

The kidnapping attempts had been few and far between, averaging about one a year. The first one entered through the window in a burst of glass and broken wall. She had tried to spout some dribble about how ‘She would get revenge on Endeavor for ruining her life’ before she was encased in ice, with only her face free. 

Rei wasn’t bought for her looks.

The following attempts were usually as bold as they were ill-prepared, save for the group that managed to sneak into her room in the middle of the night. Unfortunately for them, they were turtle heteromorphs, and learned, among other things, how uncomfortable being cold-blooded could be when their surroundings dropped over 20 degrees Celsius in less than a second.

The last attempted kidnapper was the only one to evade the varied security and retaliatory measures her husband set up in her defense, though not unscathed, from what she heard. She also heard that he was one of Japan’s most elusive and wanted thieves, a showboat named Mr. Compress.

It didn’t matter.

Her husband wouldn’t rest until the young man was caught.

Rei automatically turned down the hallway towards her room after her walk, still flanked by security. Her husband was more than willing to spend incredible funds to provide care to her, but she had more conversations with her latest attempted kidnapper than with her husband since she was first admitted.

Small mercies.

At least the kidnapper was a breath of fresh air to look at. She couldn’t recall the last new face she had seen.

The first thing she saw when she opened her room was purple. Vibrant purple flowers filled the entire room, covering every bland, white surface. The floor, walls, and even the ceiling were covered in purple flowers.

Rindou flowers.

Enji sent a new vase of Rindou flowers every month, which she let sit next to her bed. But this was excessive, far beyond what Enji would ever do, even in his few truly romantic moments. There must have been hundreds of flowers.

While she stared in shock, her security went on high alert and immediately took her to the safe room.

After clearing the room of flowers and inspecting it with several fine-toothed combs, they allowed Rei out of the safe room. After she was told that her room was cleared and that she would be moving into a new room, she ignored their protests and walked straight back to her room. She hadn’t changed rooms since she arrived, and she wasn’t changing now.

More importantly, the room smelled like her favorite flower, even after they attempted to remove the scent.

She found the letter the next day, hidden within the napkin that came with her breakfast.

‘I hope you enjoyed the flowers. I look forward to seeing you again soon. 

The Gentleman Thief: Mr. Compress’

Rei knew she should have shared the letter with her security guards. But she kept it. If this Mr. Compress wanted to harm her, he wouldn’t have left her flowers; he would have left something dangerous. And she couldn’t lie and say she wasn’t curious. 

How had he known Rindous were her favorite?

Why play this game?

Why not simply kidnap her and ransom her?

Despite her better judgment, she found herself waiting to hear from her new admirer.

Rei opened her eyes and found herself standing atop a hill. She could see rows upon rows of cherry blossoms at the height of the season, pink dominating her vision.

“Apologies for the abrupt change in scenery, but I hope this is to your tastes.”

Rei slowly turned to find the young man who tried to steal her and left her hundreds of her favorite flower sitting atop a picnic blanket, meticulously setting out a spread from the picnic basket, an easy-going smile on his face. He wore a white buttoned shirt, black pants, and suspenders.

“I can’t say I was expecting this when you said ‘I look forward to seeing you again soon,’” Rei admitted, but took a seat on the blanket, her legs stretched out to the side. “You have to know that my husband is going to burn you to ash for stealing me.”

The young man glanced up at her, whimsy in his eyes.

“If I’m not mistaken, I have more to fear from you than him at this moment. I was not expecting your strength, nor your reaction, when we first met. Scone?”

Rei didn’t look away from him as she accepted the pastry.

“And I wasn’t expecting a picnic from a thief who would have kidnapped me to raise his notoriety,” she countered, feeling the groves and crumbs of the scone. When was the last time she had something so indulgent?

He laughed softly as he took out what appeared to be finger sandwiches and… was that a charcuterie board?

“And I wasn’t expecting to see a fine young woman like yourself spending her days caught in a routine she does not enjoy,” he noted. “But, I have to say, your eyes convinced me to change my original plans.”

Rei narrowed her eyes at the cocky young man. She slowly, and pointedly, took a small bite of the scone.

“You have ten minutes before I turn this hill into a mountain top,” she warned.

“In that case,” he said, straightening in his seat, his smile growing wider. “Perhaps I should introduce myself properly. Atsuhiro Sako. The pleasure is mine.”

Over the next seven months, Atsuhiro would steal her and bring her to a new venue for their ‘dates.’ It would happen as often as once a week, with the longest gap between meetings being two months, one week, and three days. 

Not that she was counting.

As for Atsuhiro, he was…

Just as full of himself and egotistical as someone who called himself the ‘Gentleman Thief: Mr. Compress’ would be. 

But he was patient, kind, and a flatterer. The latter only occasionally worked to his advantage, with the average going up with every visit. Atsuhiro, as he insisted he be called, told her stories about his exploits, with enough detail that would remove any doubt of his innocence. Rei believed it was his way of being vulnerable: She truly believed that if she were to tell her exploits to the heroes, or her husband, Atsuhiro would be easily caught and sentenced for life. 

She didn’t say anything, though sometimes she wished she had someone to share her reactions to his stories with. When Atsuhiro told her about his spectacular failure trying to steal the Cat Eye Diamonds - and the resulting injuries that caused him to disappear for those two months, one week, and three days - Rei laughed so hard she couldn’t sit up straight for a good half hour.

She couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so hard.

It took two months for Atsuhiro to reveal that he knew what Enji had done to her family. And that he had evidence. She wasn’t sure what to do with that information at the time, and still didn’t.

It took a month after that for Rei to open up about Touya and Shoto. Atsuhiro didn’t speak, simply holding her as she cried in grief and shame for the first time in years.

He had, through patience and what appeared to be genuine interest, made her feel more emotions in these past seven months than she had since before she was admitted. Her doctors noted that her ‘condition’ was improving, and one was bold enough to say that her breakthrough was encouraging, perhaps encouraging enough that she could leave the hospital.

She was surprised when that doctor wasn’t immediately fired.

But his comment stuck with her.

It was while they were sitting beside a small creek in the middle of the summer that she told Atsuhiro what the doctor had said.

“You deserve to have your life back,” Atsuhiro told her. “You deserve to see your children. Staying here, staying within this cage, staying in your grief, it won’t change anything. You need to break free and start living your life again.”

It wasn’t the first time he brought up the topic of her leaving the hospital. At first, she thought he wanted to use his blackmail to destroy her husband’s life or collect a sizeable amount of hush money, but he assured her that the dirt wouldn’t see the light of day without her permission. She wanted to believe him… Except…

“And what’s in it for you?” Rei asked, quietly, unable to meet his eye. “Why are you telling me this?”

Atsuhiro smiled.

“Because I want you to be happy,” he said. “You’re not happy at the hospital. You’re happier out here than you are in there.”

“You’re only saying that because I’m easier to kidnap out here…” She countered weakly, barely believing her own argument.

He laughed.

“You know, at first, I did want to kidnap you for the fame of it. The ‘Gentleman Thief: Mr. Compress, Kidnapping of the Wife of Endeavor! Heroes beware: This villainous playboy will steal your wives!’” He boasted playfully. Then, he voice fell, his face remaining, but his face somber. “Then I watched you, to better learn my mark. Then I found out what your husband had done. What he made of you and your children. After that, I told myself I would steal something more important than ‘the Wife of Endeavor’; I would steal her heart instead.”

Rei whipped her head at him, anger instantly reaching a boil from betrayal, but seeing his face, so sad and melancholy, the anger cooled.

His smile widened slightly.

“Then I realized that I was not trying to steal her heart. I was trying to settle the score.”

“What score?” Rei couldn’t help but ask.

Atsuhiro turned to her, vulnerable and open.

“You stole my heart, Rei. With your smiles, your love for your children, your patience, and your… you. And while with you, I may not be ‘the Gentleman Thief: Mr. Compress, the great, great, grandson of Harima, the peerless thief’, but when something of mine is stolen, I shall work tirelessly until the score is settled.”

He went to take her hands, and she let him.

“But I know that I shall never get my heart back from you, so I must ask: Will you free yourself of your cage, so we may share our stolen hearts together?”

Rei had to blink out the tears forming in her eyes.

“...Yes.”

The snow fell softly outside Rei’s condo. She wanted something smaller, but she was convinced by a certain showboat that she deserved the finer things in life. It was filled with the realtor’s showroom furniture. It would take some time to make it her own, but outside of the hospital, outside of Enji’s grasp, she had all the time in the world. 

“‘Endeavor: Single and Very, Very Hot!’” 

Rei turned away from the basic furniture to find Atsuhiro standing in the entrance leading to the balcony, reading a newspaper in one hand, a bottle of wine in the other.

“‘Endeavor was spotted leaving divorce court with his ex-wife yesterday afternoon, offering no comments, and was quickly seen back on the streets fighting crime within the hour. No details of his marriage or divorce are known to the public, but one fact remains: Endeavor is on the market,’” he continued, walking into the condo. “So, how much in alimony did you win? Did you go with my recommendation?”

“I didn’t have a chance to request anything before Enji’s lawyer offered their figure,” she answered, walking over to hand him the divorce documents.

Atsuhiro set the newspaper on the kitchen table, took the documents, and began to read.

Rei had to bite her cheek to prevent herself from laughing at the sight of Atsuhiro’s boggling eyes.

“And here I thought I was the master thief…” He uttered in astonishment.

Rei took the bottle of wine as Atsuhiro remained frozen, staring at the document. She walked back to the kitchen and found two wine glasses before heading back to the table. She gave Atsuhiro a few minutes before she finally had to take the divorce document from her boyfriend. 

He coughed to clear his throat, trying to regain his composure.

“Well… Ahem, t-that’s good. Very good. Splendid, even.”

Rei laughed, shaking her head.

“I think you make more in a month than I stole in the last four years…” He uttered before turning to his girlfriend, clapping his hands together. “Now! Let’s celebrate!”

He quickly went to open the glass of the wine and poured them both a glass.

“To you, Rei! For freedom! And your future!” He announced, raising his glass.

She smiled and raised her glass in turn.

“To our future, Atsuhiro,” she corrected before clicking glasses and taking a sip.

Their glances over their wine spoke to future events, which shall not be delved into here. The Gentleman - and Chaste - Thief: Mr. Compress does not kiss and tell.

The Gentleman - and Childless - Thief: Mr. Compress was sitting on the couch with his girlfriend, months into her new life, holding hands as they watched a movie neither was quite absorbed in, her head resting on his shoulder.

“I would like to tell your children about us,” he started, out of the blue, perhaps the most unsure he had ever sounded.

Rei didn’t respond for a moment, letting the feeling of Atsuhiro’s thumb rubbing against her hand.

“I don’t know,” she finally said. 

“I know that they may not accept me, especially after what your ex-husband has done-”

Rei shook her head, which rubbed against his.

“No, it’s not that I’m concerned about.”

He turned to her, eyebrows furrowed.

“Then what is the issue, my dear?” He asked, confused.

“Well,” she started, wincing a little. “Well… You can be… A bit much…”

He smiled.

“But that’s one of my best qualities!” He complained teasingly.

“Not if you’re like my children.”

Atsuhiro straightened, turning to face his girlfriend, taking her hands in his.

“I wormed my way into your heart, did I not?” He started, looking into her eyes. “I’m sure your kids will warm up to me as well.”

His eyes grew sad.

“You haven’t reached out to your children since the divorce, and only Fuyumi has reached out, and you’re struggling to prepare the right introduction.”

Rei sagged.

“I know… I just-”

“Waiting for the right time,” he finished, his face brightening mischievously. “But, perhaps someone could break the ice, as it were. Grant you and your children an opening.”

“...Atsuhiro, you are not going to kidnap my children.”

He quickly raised his arms.

“I didn’t mean that!” He quickly said. “I only mean a little… prodding of encouragement! That’s all!”

Rei continued to glare at him before she sighed.

“Let me think about it, alright? Before you do anything?”

“Alright,” the Gentleman - and Honest - Thief: Mr. Compress, promised.

“Okay, kids, that’s all for today,” Fuyumi started, smiling at the primary students in her care. “Don’t forget about your writing homework due tomorrow!”

“Yes, Miss Fuyumi,” the elementary class chorused as they left their seats.

As the last student left, Fuyumi sighed, letting out some of the tension in her body. While she did enjoy her job greatly, children were not always bastions of patience and focus, which did not help when she was going to see her mother for the first time in years that evening. 

She wouldn’t lie and say that was prepared for the reunion. What would she say? Should she bring anything? Her mother said she’ll have it all covered, but would it be enough? There was so much doubt and time between them. So many good memories half-remembered, buried under more memories of stress, anxiety, and fear. Would they even be able to talk after all this time?

“Excuse me, Miss Fuyumi?”

“Hm?” Fuyumi jumped, turning to one of the school’s assistants, who held a large gift basket overflowing in her hands.

“We received a package for you.”

Fuyumi blinked.

“I was expecting any packages.”

“It has your name on it,” the assistant shrugged, setting the gift basket on Fuyumi’s desk. “Have a good night.”

“Yeah, have a good night…” Fuyumi said before tampering off. She went to inspect the gift basket, finding it full of her preferred shampoo, favorite snacks, a few scarves, and other miscellaneous gifts. She reached out and grabbed the note set atop the basket, unknowingly setting a blue marble to roll off the basket and onto the ground.

“‘Miss Fuyumi, I apologize for the intrusion, but I think it's time I should introduce myself,’” she read before furrowing her brow. “What does that mean?”

“It means I have been-”

The snowball that was aimed at the suddenly appearing man was neatly dodged, as well as the following dozen.

“Hm, I should have expected this…” The young man who suddenly appeared in the room chuckled as he dodged the snowballs.

“Stay still!” Fuyumi shouted. “I know how you are! You tried to kidnap my mom!”

“Ah, so your father must have told you about my failed attempt.”

“Then you’ll know that I can do this!” Fuyumi started before moving to step forward, the bottom of her leg already coated in ice.

“Mercy, please!” The intruder yelled, raising his arms. “I simply wished to talk!”

“Talk about what!? The benefits of being kidnapped by Mr. Compress!?” Fuyumi countered, leg still in the air. 

“Straight to the threats, I see. Very well. I am dating your mother.”

“You tried to kidnap my mother!”

“Tried, and failed,” he quickly said. “Look, your favorite toy growing up was a little snowman who had a parsnip instead of a carrot for a nose and a gardener’s hat instead of a top hat. After you tried to give it a ‘proper winter party,’ its fabric never quite returned to its original form.”

“...I never told anyone outside of my family about Snowy…” Fuyumi uttered in disbelief, slowly lowering her foot.

“And your mother would comb your hair with a wooden brush with intricate snowflake carvings.”

Fuyumi went quiet for a moment, and Atsuhiro lowered his arms.

“See, I’m telling the truth,” he started. “Now, I just want to get to know my darling girlfriend’s lovely children-”

The Gentleman - and Well-Received - Thief: Mr. Compress narrowly dodged a snowball.

“What was that for!?”

“Because you broke into a school to talk to me and you’re a wanted criminal!” Fuyumi shouted, throwing more snowballs at the man.

“Well it was nice to meet you Fuyumi I hope to see you again soon without the hostilities, chao!” Atsuhiro shouted before diving out the window, narrowly avoiding a dozen more snowballs.

Rei wasn’t surprised that the first of her children to reach out to her was Fuyumi. Out of all of her children, her daughter was always the one trying to remedy issues and relationships. It hurt Rei to know how much her daughter tried to fix the crumbling family dynamic for nothing to come out of it.

That only served to raise Rei’s anxiety for the entire week leading up to Fuyumi’s visit, hoping that the spread on the table was enough to accompany their first meeting in years.

Rei didn’t want to mess this up. She had failed so much in the past. She wanted - no, needed to become a better mother.

The sound of rapid knocking made Rei jump. She checked her phone and found that her daughter was over an hour early. Gathering her strength, she walked to the door, expecting the worst.

“Fuyumi, you’re early-” Rei greeted with a wide, anxious smile as she opened the door, only for her daughter to march into the condo with a large gift basket.

“Mom, you have a villain claiming to be your boyfriend!” Fuyumi declared, quickly moving to put the gift basket on the table, narrowly avoiding the spread on the table. “And he knows a lot about us!”

Rei sighed.

“Atsuhiro said he wanted to speak to you three, but he told me he would wait. What did he do?”

“He snuck into my classroom and spouted about Snowy and -! ‘Atsuhiro!?’ You’re actually dating that sleeze!?” Fuyumi shouted.

“I know how it looks, but I can assure you that his criminal history doesn’t-”

“Mom, I don’t care that he’s a criminal,” Fuyumi interrtuped, trying to sound polite even as she felt bad for interrupting. “He’s obnoxious! I’ve known him for less than an hour, and I want to see him slip on ice and chip his tooth!”

“...He does have that quality. But he’s a lovely man, if a bit… overambitious at times.”

“‘At times?’ He’s like an entire high school of theater kids in one body!”

Rei failed to stifle a laugh, a sound that stunned Fuyumi. She hadn’t heard her mother laugh in… She didn’t know how long.

“I have to tell Atsuhiro that! He would love that!” She exclaimed, starting to laugh more openly.

Fuyumi stared at her mother, stunned by how much younger and happier her mother sounded at the mention of her boyfriend. Fuyumi couldn’t help but laugh a little in turn.

“So,” Fuyumi started, taking a seat at the table, “how did you end up dating a known criminal?”

Before Rei could respond, the sound of someone marching caught their attention. They turned to find Natsuo marching into the condo, enraged.

“N-Natsuo…” Rei breathed, taking a step back, expecting shouting about her failures of being a mother, being unable to help her children, causing one of them to die-

“Mom, I am going to kill your boyfriend!” Natsuo shouted.

Fuyumi blinked as Rei remained stiff.

“He got to you, too, then?” Fuyumi finally asked.

“He stole my girlfriend’s phone, pretended to be her, told me to meet up for lunch, only for a known criminal to sit down in front of me and tell me about my favorite action figure and the song mom used to sing to me at night before be- What do you mean ‘he got to you, too!?’”

Fuyumi held up the gift basket.

“He appeared in my classroom after school. Did he get you anything?”

Natsuo grumbled, shoved his hands into his pockets, and took out two slips of paper before tossing them on the table.

“Concert tickets.”

Fuyumi rolled her eyes.

“Natsuo…” Rei managed to get out.

He jumped and turned to her, as if he was realizing that she was there for the first time.

“Ummm… H-hi, m-mom,” he said, trying to regain his composure.

The room immediately fell into silence, as Fuyumi realized that they had been set up. She almost had to hand it to the known villain; he knew how to play his obnoxious personality to his strengths. 

The sick bastard.

“So, uh… Nice place you got here,” Natsuo started, immediately turning away in an attempt to appear as if he was taking in the room, a nervous smile on his face.

“Natsuo, you need to say something more than ‘nice place!’” Fuyumi harshly whispered.

“I don’t know what to say…!” He harshly whispered back.

“Maybe apologize for marching in here and giving mom a heart attack!? She probably thought you were coming in mad at her instead of her boyfriend!”

“Why would I be mad at mom!?”

That took Rei out of her stupor.

“You’re… You’re not mad at me?” She uttered, preparing for the worst.

Natsuo turned away from his sister and back to his mom with wide eyes. Then, he sagged.

“I… I can’t be mad at you mom,” Natsuo admitted. “Everything dad did… What happened to Touya… And Shoto… That’s on him. You tried your best. I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier. I…”

“Didn’t know what to say?” Rei dared to offer.

“...Yeah.”

The three stayed in silence for a moment, memories of the past occupying their minds.

“Maybe we should… sit down, and talk about mom’s new condo,” Fuyumi offered diplomatically.

“Yeah… “ Natsuo said, taking a seat. “We should.”

Rei, staring back at two of her children for the first time in years, allowed herself to hope, before sitting down to join them at the table.

A few days later, Rei hummed quietly as she prepared herself ramen.

It had been so long since she had a chance to make anything. It felt nice to do something with her hands again, even if her cooking skills were… awful. It had been a disaster the first several (dozen) times she tried to cook. Memorable disasters at that. Her screaming in panic from the fumes of smoke that arose from the rice she was cooking was replaced with a sigh of relief after Atsuhiro put out the fire. Then they had laughed themselves in such hysterics at how she had burned rice that they could hardly manage to call for takeout, much less keep standing.

As she cooked, she thought back to Fuyumi and Natsuo. She had spent hours talking to them, clearing the air, getting to know them, truly know them, and mending bridges. By the end, it was almost as if their relationship was back to what it should have been without Enji’s interference, though the topic of Atsuhiro was, admittedly, a little tense. Fuyumi was willing to accept how happy he made Rei, though it was clear she wouldn’t be accepting any further gifts from him any time soon. Natsuo didn’t make any attempts to hide his distaste for him, though he didn’t suggest they break up. It was probably the best she would get, and it was far better than she could dream of.

The sound of her phone ringing stole her attention.

She reached out to pick it up when her heart stopped in her chest when she saw that it was Shoto who was calling her.

Why was he calling her? After what she did?

She hadn’t tried to speak to him after leaving the hospital, though she was sure to ask Fuyumi to let Shoto know her new address.

But how could she talk to him after all this time?

With a start, she realized that the call was about to end, and while the idea of speaking to her youngest weighed on her greatly, the idea of ignoring his attempt to reach out would all but crush her.

She lunged for the phone and answered the call, putting the phone as close to her ear as she could without it touching her, as if contact would shatter this briefest moment of peace.

“Shoto?” Rei breathed, voice nearly hitching.

< “Mother.” >

Rei waited, wondering what her son would say next. Would he say something next? Did he want her to speak? Did he expect her to say something? Did he want an apology? Did he want to tell her how much the scar hurt? How much it had ruined his life?

< “Your boyfriend is a villain. And annoying.” >

Rei blinked, her spiralling thoughts halting with a screech.

< “But he bought some good cold soba, so he’s not as bad as dad.” >

Rei sighed in relief. Before she perked up.

“You… You saw Atsuhiro?”

< “He kidnapped me during lunch.”

“Hello, darling!” >

Rei all but lost her balance before fury filled her veins.

“Atsuhiro, I told you not to kidnap my children!” She yelled, absolutely furious at the betrayal.

< “I know…” He started, and Rei could hear his small, apologetic smile. “But I was in the neighborhood and I saw Shoto and decided to introduce myself!” 

“I was sitting alone in a classroom eating lunch.”

“And I was in the area!”

“It’s a private school. With security guards. And sensors.”

“A very specific area!”

“If you didn’t have cold soba and blackmail material on my father, I would have frozen you the second I was free from your quirk.”

“See! We’re getting along swimmingly!”

“We’re in a warehouse.”

“It has a couch!” >

On one hand, Atsuhiro had kidnapped her son, and Rei was furious. She would be having many words with him once he returned to her condo. On the other hand…

She was hearing Shoto talk for the first time in years. And while he sounded distant and unemotional, he didn’t sound like he hated her, and that lessened a lot of the shame she carried for years.

Rei smiled softly.

< “Fuyumi told me that she visited you. With Natsuo,” her son continued. >

“They did.”

The line went quiet for about a minute. 

Rei started to get nervous again.

< “Can I… Can I visit too?” Her son asked in a soft, vulnerable voice.

Rei’s heart nearly stopped in her joy.

“Yes- yes of course, Shoto!” She said, nearly yelling. “You’re… You’re always welcome. I… I love you.”

< “...I love you too, mom.” >

Life was good for Atsuhiro. His girlfriend was happier than ever. She had managed to reunite with her children with little friction. She recently acquired joint custody of her youngest son and, after a long, heartfelt conversation, convinced him that while, yes, his father was a real piece of work, restricting himself to only using half his quirk would only hurt him. Just in time for him to get into UA High, too.

He had yet to get the approval of Rei’s children, but they weren’t calling the heroes on him, so he considered that progress.

Atsuhiro smiled, even congratulating himself for not stealing that gold pocket watch worth over one million yen he saw at the gala he snuck into earlier that night. If he was honest with himself, the Gentleman - and Lifelong - Thief: Mr. Compress, found himself enjoying the game less and less. It was only more time spent away from the love of his life.

But Atsuhiro couldn’t stop being Mr. Compress.

His list of crimes was long, varied, and, while impressive, very, very good reasons for him to be locked away forever with nary visitors’ rights.

The life that brought love into his life was also the life that doomed them from being truly together.

A flash of blue light to the alley to his side offered the conflicted man a respite from his thoughts. Deciding to indulge his curiosity rather than bemoan his situation, he snuck his way into the alley.

Taking a moment to take in his surroundings, he found a young man, who was really only a teenager, wearing a shoddy trench coat, warming his hands over a trashcan fire. He was reasonably tall, pale, of slim shape, but somewhat muscular. He possessed several patches of gnarled, wrinkled, purple skin that covered much of his lower face and neck, all the way down past his collarbone.

As the young man shot another blast of blue fire to fuel the trashcan fire, Atsuhiro managed to get a better look at the stranger’s face, and he knew this was important. Underlined for later research important.

It was the man’s eyes, hairstyle, not his color, nor his quirk, that gave him away.

With utmost confidence, and joy at finding his girlfriend’s apparently long-lost not-dead son, the Gentleman - and Wise - Thief: Mr. Compress walked into the light of the trashcan fire.

“Excuse me,” Atsuhiro started, gaining the attention of the black-haired young man. “You wouldn’t be Touya Todoroki, would you?”

The answer was as immediate as the question was warmly received.

…The answer was fire. Lots and lots of fire.

Touya was walking in an underpass, drinking from a bottle of water, when a man in a gaudy showman outfit appeared from the top.

“I believe we started off on the wrong foot-”

Touya interrupted with fire.

Touya managed to scrounge up enough money to buy a meal from a street vendor, the first real thing he had eaten in days.

“That’ll be 1200 yen,” the vendor asked.

“Save your money,” the annoying-looking, smiling man who suddenly appeared started. “I’ll take care of his tab and mine-”

Atsuhiro thought Touya would be more receptive if he paid for his meal.

But alas.

Fire.

Touya brushed his teeth in the bathroom of his ‘safe house,’ which was really an apartment unit in an abandoned complex. He spit out the paste and started to work on dying his hair as he started to see the white pop out again.

Once he finished, he headed out of the bathroom, only to find that his trench coat, which was lying on the back of an old couch turned bed, was replaced with a nicer, unstained trench coat.

“Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot, Touya,” Atsuhiro began.

“You have a lot of nerve showing your face again,” the young man started, his hand filling with blue fire. “And the name’s Dabi.”

“Dabi it is! Now, my name is Mr. Compress, the Gentleman Thief, great, great grandson of Harima, but you’ll know me better as your mother’s boyfriend.”

Few things could cause Touya Todoroki, son of the Number Two Hero: Endeavor, child abuse victim, and deeply scarred man, to pause, but hearing a magician-looking bastard call himself his mom’s boyfriend was one of them.

“...Alright, you’re dying.”

“Before you do…!” Atsuhiro started, raising his hands in submission as the blue flames grew in intensity. “You have a vendetta against your father, correct?”

“What’s it to you?”

“I have enough information on his family abuse to destroy his entire career!”

“So?”

“You probably want to be the one who reveals it, am I correct?”

Dabi narrowed his eyes.

“If you kill me, the automatic routine on my laptop will send my files of blackmail to every news outlet in Japan,” Atsuhiro revealed, slowly lowering his hands. “So killing me would undermine your revenge plan.”

“...I don’t have a revenge plan.”

“I’ve been in this game for a very long time-”

“You don’t look that old,” Dabi interrupted.

“-And I can tell when someone has a score to settle,” Atsuhiro finished. 

“So I can maim you all I like then, as long as I don’t kill you.”

“You can try, or… You can visit your mother, who misses you dearly, and would like nothing more than to discover that her eldest son is alive.”

“My mother-!” Dabi shouted, his baseline level of murder frenzy increasing substantially, before he stopped and narrowed his eyes again. “Wait. You didn’t tell her I’m alive?”

“And betray the only item of trust we have?” Atsuhiro teased before sliding into the armchair. “I do wish to get along. Your mother is doing much better, by the by. She’s slowly repairing her relationship with your siblings, collecting quite a small fortune in alimony from your father every month, and living in ignorance that her eldest son is walking, talking, and shooting fire whenever he sees her boyfriend.”

“Stop calling yourself her boyfriend.”

“Why? Trying to keep the revenge-fueled vendetta only to one father figure?”

The Gentleman - and Aerodynamic - Thief: Mr. Compress, found that driving out of a window to avoid a blast of blue fire was ill-advised.

Rei and Shoto were sitting quietly, watching the news, when the balcony door burst open.

Rei jumped. Shoto didn’t move.

“Well!” Atsuhiro declared before coughing, ripping off his mask. “That was certainly a productive afternoon!”

“Atsuhiro! We’ve talked about this-!” Rei started before seeing the blood dripping from her boyfriend’s exposed elbow. “You’re bleeding.”

“The ground was considerate enough as to catch me, but not considerate enough to do so softly. And I know I know,” he quickly said as Rei glared at him while walking to the cabinet. “I can’t be here when it's your time with Shoto.”

“I do not hear or see a known villain in my mother’s place of residence,” Shoto deadpanned, pointedly keeping his eyes on the television. 

“Good lad!” Atsuhiro exclaimed before taking a few steps to collapse into an open chair, keeping well out of sight of Shoto. “Also, nice work winning the Sports Festival! That explosive classmate of yours is quite feral, by the way. I thought he was going to bite you at the award ceremony if not for that muzzle.”

“He’s certainly loud.”

Rei walked back to Atsuhiro, first aid kit in hand.

“You'd better have a good reason to be here tonight,” she warned as she brought out the medical tape, disinfectant, and scissors.

“I do! But I… Well, I may have to keep it a secret. For now.”

“And what does that mean?” 

Atsuhiro opened his mouth to respond, but his girlfriend’s tone indicated that he had better tread carefully.

“Do you trust me?” He asked, softly.

Rei didn’t immediately answer as she padded his elbow with the disinfectant, causing him to wince.

“...Yes. I trust you.”

“Then I’ll need some time. I may show up on the news, occasionally, but please, believe me when I say that it’ll be for you,” he promised, almost tearfully.

“What is this about, Atsuhiro?”

“Perhaps the greatest score of my life - Second, compared to you,” he quickly corrected. “But it’s going to be a long-term project.”

Atsuhiro moved his hands to beg more convincingly.

“It’ll work out in the end! I promise!”

“...Alright,” she sighed. “Just be safe.”

Atsuhiro smiled.

“As you command, my darling.”

“You two are insufferable.”

“It’s called being in love, kiddo!” Atsuhiro laughed out as Rei shook her head, a small smile on her face.

“These are two of the recruits Giran recommended,” Kurogiri said as he opened a portal. 

Shigaraki glanced over his shoulder, away from his video game and towards the scarred man and the manic looking school girl who walked out of the portal and into the bar.

“So this is the pyromaniac and the shapeshifter?” The pale man drawled. “I expected more.”

“Aren’t you a meanie?” Toga giggled, putting her palms to her cheeks, knife visible in her hands. “Maybe I should kill you now?”

“And I thought my safe house was bad,” Dabi said before plopping down on one of the barstools. “Hey, Smoke Face, get me a bourbon. Extra ice.”

“My my, what would your mother say?”

Dabi immediately whipped his head up and threw a fireball at the source of the question, only to have said fireball vanish into a portal.

“No fire in my establishment!” Kurigiri roared.

“And this one must be the thief,” Shigaraki continued, uninterested, before turning back to his screen. “Whatever. We’ll debrief after I finish this round.”

“You,” Dabi swore.

“In the flesh!” Mr. Compress said with a flourish and a bow. “I heard about this ragtag team and decided to lend my hand.”

Dabi quickly stood up from his barstool, grabbed Compress by his shirt, and dragged him to an adjacent room.

“Bye, Mr. Staples! Bye, Mr. Magician!” Toga waved.

“The name’s Mr. Compress!” The older man called out before the door shut behind him.

He couldn’t quite hear Toga’s response through the wall and Dabi slamming him against a wall.

“What are you doing here?” Dabi harshly warned, brandishing a hand filled with fire at the masked man’s neck.

“I am here to either convince you to turn yourself in so you may be reunited with your mother and family, or to ensure your safety in this den of nerdowells,” Compress answered, his cheeky smile audible in his voice.

“You would have better luck filling an urn, and what do you know, I can help you out with that.”

“See, I would rather have you help me out with how you managed to not die in childhood, but I suppose I’ll take neither option.”

Dabi glared at him a moment longer before he shoved Compress against the wall again, even harder this time, and walked away.

“Stay out of my way, or I will kill you.”

Compress brushed his suit jacket where Dabi had grabbed.

“I look forward to working together, young man!” Compress cheekily called after him.

The ‘League of Villains’ sat and stood around the bar, listening intently to Shigaraki.

“So, Shigaraki, what’s the plan for this ‘Vanguard Action Squad?’” Compress asked, hands resting behind his head as he leaned back on a reclining chair.

“We’re going to infiltrate UA’s Training Camp and kidnap a few promising students,” the pale villain drawled.

“...And which students would those be?” Compress asked, sounding chipper about the idea. On the outside, at least.

Please let it not Shoto’s class he’s talking about, please let it not Shoto’s class he’s talking about, please let it not Shoto’s class he’s talking about-

“That explosive brat from the Sports Festival and Endeavor’s prized son.”

Dabi gave Compress a sadistic grin, which would have put the Gentleman - and Kindly - Thief: Mr. Compress in the mind of corporal punishment if not for sheer dread that filled him.

“...That sounds like fine choices to me!”

This was bad. Bad as in bolded for a great departure from the normal narrative standard bad.

Rei was going to kill him.

“Quick! We need to save Kacchan!” Midoriya shouted from Shoji’s back, the group of four running through the forest. Midoriya was heavily injured, looking like he fought a mountain and won, though not without consequence.

“Do you know who took him!?” Uraraka asked, running alongside Shoji and Shoto. 

“Some villain in orange! White mask with a big brown hat!”

Shoto narrowed his eyes.

“Ah, just the hero in training I wanted to see!”

The three stopped running and found the villain Midoriya had described.

Shoto narrowed his eyes as Uraraka raised her hands, ready to fight and Shoji readied himself.

“Of course you would be here,” Shoto uttered, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“Give us back Kacchan!” Midoriya yelled at the same time, drowning Shoto’s voice out.

“Sorry, I’m not here to talk about him,” Atsuhiro started. “You see, my quite vindictive sponsor wishes me to kidnap both your feral blond comrade and Shoto, so I need it to appear that the enterprising young man managed to evade my capture. So, if you would Shoto, just a little bit of fire and ice please. Mind the face.”

“Todoroki, you know him!?” Uraraka yelled.

“He’s dating my mother.”

“YOUR MOTHER IS DATING A VILLAIN!?”

“A thief, not a villain,” Atsuhiro countered. “I merely joined this band of misfits to keep an eye on a certain… Person of interest.”

“Give back, Kacchan!” Midoriya said from an increasingly confused Shoji’s back. 

“This exploding prima donna?” Atsuhiro asked, raising a blue marble. “You consider him a friend? He’s hardly friendship material.”

“That doesn’t mean you can kidnap him,” Shoto countered.

“I’ve kidnapped you and that turned out fine.”

“WHAT!?”

“Young miss,” Atsuhiro started, turning to Uraraka, “while I understand that you are quite new to this whole ‘hero’ thing, and one of Shoto’s closest friends - thank you for that by the way, he did not have the greatest childhood-”

“An understatement,” Shoto uttered.

“-I must ask you to increase the complexity of your outbursts. Professionals have standards, after all.”

Uraraka balked, torn between being insulted and her bewilderment over the current situation.

“Let me down, Shoji,” Midoriya whispered, barely conscious. “I have enough strength in me to take him down and save Kacchan.”

“Umm,” Shoji started, looking between his classmates and the villain, who was allegedly one of said classmate’s mom’s boyfriends. “Excuse me? Mr…?”

“Oh, where are my manners?” Atsuhiro started, aghast, before bowing. “The Gentleman Thief: Mr. Compress, great, great grandson of Harima, and boyfriend to Rei Himura.”

“Mr. Compress, are you a villain?” Shoji asked.

“I exercise my right to not indiscriminate myself.”

“Of course he is, Shoji!” Uraraka shouted. “Look at him!”

“But you have a record?” Shoji continued.

“As long as one of your multi-faceted arms, young man!”

“And you’re dating Todoroki’s mom?”

“Happily, indeed.”

“But not… openly?” Shoji dared to ask.

“Sadly, no,” he said, taking his hat and placing it on his heart. “I can’t risk her getting involved, you see, or her recently acquired freedom would be taken from her again.”

“How can she not be involved!?” Uraraka shouted. “You’re kidnapping her son’s classmate right now!”

“Allegedly kidnapping a child.”

“KACCHAN IS IN YOUR HAND!” Midoriya yelled before trying to escape Shoji’s hold, and failing.

“This could very well be a rock, thank you very much.”

“What if you could… Be forgiven for your crimes…?” 

The students and villain turned to him.

“...Go on,” Atsuhiro said, tilting his head.

“The League of Villains has a lot of members, right?”

“The Vanguard Action Squad is the specific brand that poorly moisturized manchild called this group, yes.”

“And the League of Villains has a bunch of those Nomu things?”

“Dreadful things. They smell like death.”

“And you’ve been to their base?”

“Well furnished, surprisingly.”

“And your quirk is to… marble people?”

“Compress, like my name.”

“So what if you… ‘Compress’ all of them and turn them in?” Shoji offered, trying to sound confident. “That has to be worth something to the heroes, right?”

The group fell silent, internalizing what Shoji had suggested.

“You can’t be serious-!”

“HE STOLE KACCHAN-!”

“It would be the greatest heist and heel turn of the century…” Atsuhiro uttered to himself, his hand on his chin in thought. “Between the wanted criminals, the science behind the League of Villains, and the insider information… Reveal myself working in conjunction with the heroes all along… Force Endeavor to admit that was the case using the information on his family…”

“The what!?”

“Be pardoned for my crimes… Live as a free man…” He continued before looking up at Shoto. “If I were to capture the League of Villains, would you give me your blessing to marry your mother?”

“WHAT!?”

Shoji turned to Shoto as Midoriya and Uraraka were stiff in shock.

Shoto stood there, eyes still narrowed.

Atsuhiro waited.

The sounds of the distant forest fire crackled.

“...Todoroki?” Shoji finally asked.

“I’m thinking about it.”

The gentle breeze of the autumn swept around the six sitting at a rooftop cafe. With one hand, Atsuhiro was sipping from a glass that held a slice of cucumber, and with the other, he held Rei’s hand, who was smiling at him. Across the table, Fuyumi was smiling brightly at them, Natsuo managed to look annoyed, but it looked like he was forcing it, Shoto was reading the menu, and Dabi - 

No, Touya, was heavily restrained in a see-through glass box, glaring at the other five.

He was going to need some time to get all of that trauma and vengeance business sorted, but the doctors - funnily enough, the same ones who had worked with Rei, and were surprisingly talented at their jobs when allowed to act without Enji’s careful orders - were starting to make progress.

After all, Touya had yet to try to burn them so far. That was a significant improvement.

As Atushiro put his glass down, he gave the table a warm smile.

“As I was saying, I have a few seats open at the Hero Ranking Ceremony.”

“So they’re giving you a rank?” Fuyumi asked.

“Still can’t believe they gave you a license…” Natsuo groaned.

Touya grunted in agreement but didn’t say anything.

“The HPSC had to save face somehow,” Shoto offered, turning a page in the menu.

“Indeed they are!” Atsuhiro boasted. “They haven’t told me what rank yet, but I suspect it’s going to be… notably high.”

“So you infiltrated the HPSC to find your rank,” Shoto summarized.

“It’s not infiltrating when you have a pass.”

“Getting into their files counts as infiltration.”

“I’m so happy for you,” Rei said, before narrowing her eyes at him. “Though not if you did break into their files.”

“I promise I didn’t break anything,” he countered sweetly before they locked eyes.

After a beat, they leaned in and kissed.

Natsuo and Touya gagged as Fuyumi cooed.

Shoto continued to look for cold soba on the menu.

The two broke from their kiss, lingered in eye contact for a moment, before turning to the rest of the table.

“So, where do you four think we should have the wedding?” Atsuhiro asked, raising Rei’s hand to show off the ring.

Fuyumi squealed at the sight of the ring, Natsuo’s voice caught in his throat, Touya broke his streak of not trying to burn his family, and Shoto moved to prevent Touya from burning his family.

As he leapt from his chair on that rooftop cafe he had shared with his fiancée, her children, and the rapidly growing fire and ice fight, the Gentleman - and Heroic - Thief: Mr. Compress couldn't help but smile at how his failed heist had earned him the greatest score of his life.